<p>Agree with @Sherpa - my son was also a recruited athlete and was told he would need to fall within one standard deviation of the student body as a whole in terms of test scores/GPA to be admitted. An exceptionally highly ranked athlete with slightly lower scores/grades might get a look but this is by far the exception. Most of the student athletes at Princeton that I know would have been equally viable candidates with their peers, even without being recruited. </p>